August Weyhing (September 29, 1866 – September 4, 1955) was an American

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

. Nicknamed "Cannonball", "Rubber Arm Gun", and "Rubber-Winged Gus", he played for nine different

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) teams from 1887 to 1901. Weyhing had a career

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of 264–232. He holds the record for most batters hit in a career, with 277, and was the last major league pitcher to play without a

baseball glove A baseball glove or mitt is a large glove (traditionally made of leather, today other options do exist) worn by baseball players of the defending team, which assists players in catching and fielding balls hit by a batter or thrown by a teammate ...

Early life

Weyhing was born on September 29, 1866, in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, to immigrant parents from Württemberg, Germany. He was listed at 5 feet 10 inches tall and 145 pounds. He had a younger brother,

John Weyhing John Weyhing (June 24, 1869 – June 20, 1890) was a left-handed pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1888 and Columbus Solons in 1889. The brother of pitcher Gus Weyhing, he died four days before his 21st birthday. He made his ...

, who also pitched in the major leagues, and four older siblings."Gus Weyhing Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2021. In 1885, he excelled as an amateur pitcher for a company baseball team in

Richmond, Indiana Richmond is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County and is part of the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 36,812. Situa ...

Professional career

Early career, 1886–1892

In January 1886, Weyhing signed a contract with the Charleston Seagulls of the Southern League. He posted a 0.76 ERA in 32 starts, though he also hit 25 batters and threw 43

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third stri ...

es. Gus Weyhing started his MLB career in 1887 with the National League's Philadelphia Quakers (later Phillies), though this was limited to a pair of exhibition appearances against the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

. The Quakers released Weyhing, but the Athletics picked him up; he debuted officially on May 2. In his rookie campaign, he led the league in hit batsmen (37) and set the rookie record for wild pitches (49). Weyhing also led the league in those categories the next year, with 56 wild pitches and 42 HBP. On April 28, 1888, he came within one out of a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

against the

Brooklyn Bridegrooms The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Califor ...

. On July 6, 1888, during a game in Cincinnati, Weyhing left the field in protest of an umpire's call, earning him a $200 fine. On July 31, 1888, he pitched a no-hitter against the

Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys: *Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a baseball team in the Union Association in 1884 *Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a baseball team in the National League in 18 ...

. He walked one batter, and another reached base on an error. During one week in the 1888 season, he pitched three consecutive complete game victories against

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to eliminate that team from the pennant race. In 1890, Weyhing signed with the

Brooklyn Ward's Wonders The Brooklyn Ward's Wonders were a baseball team who played in the Players' League in 1890. The team's nickname derived from its superstar shortstop, hall of famer John Montgomery Ward. The team finished with a 76–56 record, finishing in second p ...

of the

Players League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Prof ...

. His personal behavior became increasingly erratic as he dealt with the sudden deaths of his mother and brother, John, within a short period that year. He was ejected from a late-season start against Buffalo and then arrested for disorderly conduct when he drunkenly confronted the umpire after the game (though the charges were dropped). In the offseason, an arrest warrant was issued against him for vandalizing a painting in a Buffalo tavern, though he left for Louisville before being served a summons. In January 1892, he was arrested (but later acquitted at trial) of stealing pigeons from a Louisville pigeon show.

Later career, 1893–1910

Weyhing struggled to adapt to changes made to the National League playing field in 1893, chief of which was the elimination of the "pitcher's box" 50 feet from home plate and its replacement with the

pitcher's plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the playing field, field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this ...

60 feet, 6 inches from home. His ERA jumped from 2.66 in 1892 to 5.71 in 1894. In 1895, Weyhing made three consecutive starts for three separate clubs—the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, and his hometown

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

—a unique feat until Jaime García replicated it in 2017. With his effectiveness declining as a pitcher, Weyhing spent the 1897 season in the minors. He pitched two full seasons with the Washington Senators in 1898 and 1899, before spending the next two seasons on four other major league clubs. He returned to the minors for the 1902 and 1903 seasons. Weyhing made a short-lived minor league comeback in 1910, with stints as a player and manager in the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Western ...

, and a two-week tenure as a

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

umpire.

Career overview

During the first six years of his MLB career, Weyhing won over 25 games, capped by a 32-win season in 1892 for the Phillies. That season, he had 469 innings pitched, completing 46 of his 49 starts with six

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. He had 216 wins in his first eight seasons. His performance declined after that, although he stayed in the majors until 1901. His

adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

totals were over 100 every season from 1888 to 1892; they were below 100 for the rest of his career. Overall, Weyhing had 4,337 innings pitched, a 264–232 win–loss record, a 3.88 ERA, and 1,667

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s. He had a relatively long career for a 19th century pitcher and thus is still on the MLB career leaderboards in many pitching categories. He holds the MLB record for the most career hit batsmen, with 277. No other pitcher in history has more than 219. Weyhing is also tied for fifth all-time in most career

es. Weyhing was considered a poor hitter and suspect fielder. In 1,980 career plate appearances, he had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .166.

Life outside baseball

Weyhing married his wife, Mollie, in

Jeffersonville, Indiana Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio River ...

in November 1888; they divorced in 1900. In January 1901, he married Mamie Gehrig, a future cousin of Yankees star

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

. Weyhing spent his post-baseball years in Louisville, where he worked as a policeman, a saloonkeeper, and a night watchman for the Louisville Water Company. He died in Louisville on September 4, 1955.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weyhing, Gus 1866 births 1955 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Superbas players Brooklyn Ward's Wonders players Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Blues (1901) players Louisville Colonels players Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Philadelphia Athletics (AA 1891) players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Cardinals players Washington Senators (1891–1899) players Minor league baseball managers Charleston Seagulls players Philadelphia Colts players Dallas Steers players Grand Rapids Furniture Makers players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Memphis Egyptians players Little Rock Travelers players Atlanta Crackers players Galveston Sand Crabs players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky